


A Dance of Survival

by Le_mango



Series: The last of my sanity [1]
Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Lots of vignettes, Pure sibling BS, So wiggly child at peak wiggly, This is all just Mango headcanon, This starts When Dina's about ten, Tiny bit of Dina&Ellie at the end, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-01-06 16:36:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18392213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_mango/pseuds/Le_mango
Summary: A closer look into Dina's life and how she managed to survive before making it to Jackson.





	1. A house is not a home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Tilts safari hat* Okay so this is heading deep into that good ole' headcanon territory. Seatbelts recommended and possibly tissues.

      “Sarah,” Dina whispered. “Sarah.” She reached across poking her arm. “Saaraaaaah.” She was still ignored. Sarashahahahahsssshahahahahah.” She forcefully whispered in a long string until Sarah gave up finally turning around.

      “What do you want?” She stared at Dina who was hanging upside down from a branch.

      “Hi.” Dina grinned her face starting to go red from hanging so long. This was easily the fifth time she had stopped Sarah for no reason other than to say hi. “You missed a spot.” She pointed out to a small white flower they could use.

      “Why don’t you get it?”

      “No.” She stuck her tongue out. “Hey Saraaaaah.” Dina started again as soon as her back was turned.

      “Okay you little butt.” Sarah spun wrapping her arms around Dina’s waist and pulling her off the branch. “You’re supposed to be working.”

      “You can’t make me.” Dina dictated but her eyes widened as she realized where Sarah was headed. “No. Put me down.” She struggled. “Stop!” She tried punching at Sarah’s knees as she kept walking closer to the edge of a wooden dock. “Sarah.”

      “If you’re not going to help you need to leave.” She grunted and swung dangerously close to the water’s edge.

      “Put. Me. Down!”

      “Sure.” Sara loosened her grip enough to drop Dina a few inches closer to the water. 

     She let loose another screech. “Daaaad!” She shouted.

      “What.” He asked watching the argument.

      “Help me!”

      He grinned. “When was the last time you had a bath?”

      Dina could already taste the betrayal. “What? I don’t know. Monday!?” She was starting to get dizzy from being upside down for so long.

      Jacob let out a long exhale. “Hmm. I’m not sure, is she stinky?”

      Dina made one final effort to escape knowing her time was running out. “The stinkiest,” Sarah replied flatly and dropped Dina. There was the beginning of a shout before she hit the water. Dina came back up coughing and sputtering, while the other two sat laughing above her.

      “Jerks.” She spat she cupped her hand trying to throw water at the pair. Other than the dodging it did nothing to stop them. She sat pouting in the cold water.

      “Okay, sorry.” Jacob sighed. “Sarah help her out. We need to head back anyways.”

      “Fine.” She dramatically knelt holding a hand out over the water. Just as Dina was about to reach up Sarah’s eyes went wide and she pitched forward. She fell with a splash and Jacobs’s silhouette came into view where she was before. He stood doubled over cackling as the now two soaked girls pouted up.

      “I can’t believe you fell for that!” He exclaimed. Dina and Sarah glanced at each other before both swinging their arms together sending a massive wave at him.

***

      “Looks like you guys had fun,” Abby noted as the two grumpy soaked girls and a partially wet and grinning husband.

      “I know I did.” Jacob beamed.

\---X---

      “This is bullshit,” Dina muttered staring at the chicken scratch of problems written on the inside of a book cover.

      “I believe its called geometry.” Dina sucked in her breath and froze, her mother was not supposed to hear that part. Abby set down the book she was reading and sat up straighter on the bed. “Let me see what you have so far.” Dina glumly passed the sheet over and Abby focused eyes scanning back and forth. She eventually turned pointing out several errors. “You’ve almost got the hang of it.” She encouraged.

      “Do I have to do this now?” Dina groaned.

      “Just wait until she starts adding letters.” Sarah chimed from the opposite corner. Dina had no clue what that meant but it already sounded awful.

      “It’s not that bad.” Abby sighed passing the sheet back. “Just humor a sickly woman and finish these. Then you can go throw rocks at a tree or whatever you kids do now.”

      There was a sudden clamor outside as the main door slammed open. An intense shouting match muffled through to the room they were in. They all froze staring at the door separating them from the rest of the house. It swung open revealing a tired man, a fresh stripe of blood crossing his shirt. Abby took a sharp breath noticing the stain. “It’s not mine love.” He glanced over. “Sarah I need your help now.” Sarah nodded immediately dropping her book.

      “I can help.” Dina shot up but was blocked by her father.

      “Today you’ll just be in the way.” Jacobs' eyes were glossed over and he was slightly bouncing on his toes poorly hiding his stress. He flinched eyes squeezing shut as another round of shouting and cursing could be heard no longer blocked by their door. As soon as Sarah had exited he turned closing the door again.

      Dina turned to see her mother still staring intently at where Jacob was. Dina’s brow dropped again and her stomach began churning around and around. “Come here little one.” Her mother beckoned holding out an arm. Dina slowly moved up and curled against her side. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way.”

      “I know. I know.” Dina shook her head trying to clear away her frown. “Sarah’s better than me anyways.”

      “That’s hardly fair. She’s had much more practice.”

      “I thought you were going to say it was because she’s old.”

      Abby snorted. “You think she’s old, what does that make me? Ancient?” She teased pressing a kiss onto Dina’s forehead while trying to ignore the muted clattering and never-ending shouting outside.

\---X---

      “Dina.” Sarah huffed. “Would you just hold still?”

      “You’re making it too tight.” Dina twisted again and Sarah tried to follow trying to hold the unfinished braids in place.

      “Maybe if you would stop moving they would be fine. Your child is defective.”  Sarah called out and was met with another complaint from Dina.

      Abby looked up with a smile running her hands through her husband’s hair to separate out another lock. There were a few gray strands starting to hide in his curls. “Whatever went wrong is your fault.” She teased cutting off the final pieces. The dark hair fell adding to the piles on the floor.

      “Are you sure? I’ve seen your sisters.”

      “Do you want a bald spot?” Abby snipped the scissors shut her face threatening.

      “Dina!” Sarah cried again from the other side of the room. Dina let loose a growl as she rocked back and forth on the stool.

      Abby’s face cracked and she chuckled lightly. “Okay, maybe some of it is my fault.” She ruffled her hands through Jacobs’s hair clearing out the trimmings. She did her best to ignore the dark circles under his eyes and the circumstances they came from.  Abby’s voice dropped into a low whisper. “Good thing I got that mop out of the way. Now I can actually see my cute lil man,” She leaned forward kissing Jacobs’s forehead before pulling his head back to properly kiss him.

      “Gross.” Dina chirped.

      “Hey.” Abby looked up with a grin. “One day you won’t think that.”

      “Sure.” Dina squinted back critically. “Can I go outside already?”

      “Just stay away from,” Jacob started.

      “Vic's house and the kitchens. I know.” Dina said already shooting the door.

      “I’ll keep an eye on her.” Sarah sighed following behind grabbing a worn out textbook as she left.

      “What a shame, you scared them off.” Jacob quipped already stretching back up into another kiss.

\---X---

      “Frankly you could let a few more of them die,” Sarah whispered in a hushed voice.

      “Then what? Have them thinking I’m incompetent?” Jacob snapped. “They would easily kill us all if I gave any more reason.”

      “I’m just saying you used up a lot of supplies to save Marty and he’s always been one of the worse for us. Ethical or not we’re running out of time to leave.” Sarah leaned forward hand gripping the edge of her seat

      “I know.” He buried his head into his hands. “I know I promised your mother,” he sighed at the memory of those long gone, “that I’d keep you safe. Right now isn’t ideal but it’s the only thing keeping us alive.”

      “Hey.” Abby reaches out patting his back while also shooting a frown at Sarah’s bluntness. “I know this is the hardest on you, but unfortunately she's right. If you’re going to leave you need to go before winter hits.”

      “I’m not going to leave you.” He looked up sadly.

      “If it keeps those two safe you have too. You’ve seen what they do to women her age,”-she swallowed- “I know I can’t keep up anymore but,” Abby paused noticing a small tired and red-eyed Dina standing in the doorway. “What is it little one?” She said softly.

      “It happened again. I saw all of them. Jackie, Grandma, and and, Papa,” Dina sputtered, “all getting attacked by those things.” Her voice cracked as she ran forward clinging onto her mother, face burying as she tried to fight off another burst of panicked breaths.

      “Dina. It’s just nightmares again. I’ll come back and see if we can fall asleep again. Alright?” Dina nodded gratefully against her chest. Abby stood sluggishly the pain showing on her face. “Come on,” she held her hand out to guide Dina back. “You two stay civil.” She said over her shoulder. Sarah’s eyes were burning as she slouched with arms crossed.

      Jacob ran his hands through his hair causing it to stick up into awkward angles. He started down at the rough table biting his lip.  “Hide whatever food and medicine you can. If you ever see anyone drop or leave ammunition unattended take as much as will go unnoticed.”

      “Okay.” Sarah agreed softly.

      “I don’t know if we’ll make it out this year but please, keep yourself and Dina safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure why but I had a pretty specific Dina backstory pretty soon after I started writing my main tlou fic. This is kind of a deeper look into why she acts the way she does and perhaps a basis for some of her skills. I also wanted to practice writing in more of a vignette/abstract style. If you want to ask questions or discuss anything go ahead.


	2. Run

       “Come on.” Sarah groaned hitting her head on the underside of the shelf. She sucked her gut in trying to push through the tight space.

       “I told you it was a tight fit,” Dina said only able to see Sarah’s legs hanging out of the cabinet door. “I could have gotten it.”

       “Shut up and keep cleaning.” There was a thud as she presumably ran another elbow into the wall. Dina tried to hold back a snicker as she kept winding clean bandages back into tidy-rolls. “Got it!” Sarah cheered followed by another loud thump. “Shit!” She steadily worked shimmying out backward and took a deep breath proudly sitting on the floor covered in dust and cradling an orange pill bottle. “This is the one and only time I’ll be thankful for that terror of a cupboard.”

       Dina perked up. “Is it the right kind?”

       Sarah checked over the label and nodded with a grin. “And guess what?” She popped open the container confirming that it was full. In the past few weeks they had been getting much stricter about medical supplies. It didn’t help that the cold air and deepening snow was not only causing more injuries but making it harder to keep up on supplies. Vic had taken over the inventory convinced that they were stealing painkillers from the stores. His solution had led to them almost being cut off entirely while the rest of his crew started draining the supplies at an unprecedented rate.

       Dina’s head shot to the side to peek down the hallway, it seemed that none of the raiders were around. “Get those up to Dad. If they’ve been down there for a few weeks Vic won’t know.”

       “Already on it,” Sarah said wrapping the bottle up and burying it in her coat to avoid any rattling as she ran next door. She hurried out making sure to not walk any faster than necessary. Most of the camp had been looking for any reason to cause trouble after being cooped up for so long.

       It didn’t help that Abby was getting worse. She could barely get out of bed without help. Couldn’t stay awake more than a few hours at a time. But I’m the few hours it was more than apparent the pain was getting harder to hide. Jacob only left her side when absolutely necessary. He would only come out to work on the worst wounds, and occasionally to prove to Vic that he was still useful. In the meantime, Sarah and Dina had moved to pick up every other injury and chore.

       After a few minutes of boring silence, Dina moved to the window absently scratching designs into the thin layer of frost. She watched blurry flakes drifting by free as they danced through the air in whimsical patterns. Free as they danced around each other. Until they all got stuck on the cold, dead ground. Just like her, stuck. How long had it been since any of them had been able to go outside without worrying about what the others would think? What she would give just to go lay in the snow and stare up as millions of flakes creates a beautiful and endless void. How long had they been stuck? Eighteen, nineteen months at this point? She finished sketching a little horse on the window. Albeit looked kinda dopey with uneven legs, she would die for Simon.

       A thud ripped her out of her thoughts and she turned to see a guard swearing at the table he had run into. He had managed to make it halfway across the room without her noticing. “Jacobs not here right now. If you’re hurt I’ll have to grab someone.” She called out.

       He squinted forward obviously intoxicated. “Where’s the other one?” His gruff voice spat. The already cold room seemed to drop a few degrees.

       Dina glared forward, Denver is what everyone called him. He always had given her the creeps. “Sarah will be back soon. You can just wait over there.” His mouth hooked up in a slow grin. Dina could feel her breath hitch in the back of her throat. _“Leave now.”_ Her mind rattled but her body wasn’t reacting.

       “I’ve heard you’ve been learning all about fixing people up.” He was right in her face, putrid breath wafting off. “Surely you can manage by yourself at this point.” He reached out grabbing her shoulder, fingers curling stabbing uncomfortably down.

       “N-no?” Dina panicked. _“Oh shitshit.”_

       “Get your hands off her.” Sara stated sharply marching into the room.

       “Oh look at that here comes the other pretty lady.” Denver slurred as he turned dragging Dina along. She sat eyes wide with terror seconds away from throwing up.

       “I said hands off.”

       “Come on now, there’s no need to be,”

       Sarah’s hand flashed out ripping his arm away and she stabbed down pinning his hand to the wood table with a scalpel. He let out a sharp yelp. “You don’t fucking touch her.” She growled holding another knife under chin.

       “What the hell?!” He snarled squirming under her steely gaze. “Don’t you know how to have a little bit of fun?”

       “What did I say?” She twisted the scalpel and his knees buckled as he gasped in pain. “Does that hurt? Go ahead and tell Vic.” She snarled jerking the blade out of his hand.

       “You bitch.” Denver spat weakly cradling his hand as he staggered out of the room. A few more furious breaths and Sarah’s head spun. She gasped dropping both knives to the floor realizing what she had just done.

       “Fuck.” She panted checking back at a shocked Dina. “Hey are you okay?” She rushed over as soon as she reached out Dina buckled to the floor sobbing. “It’s okay Dibs. It’s okay.” She pulled Dina into her shoulder arms wrapping tightly around her. She was not going to make the mistake of leaving her alone again.

\--X--

       Vic was always on the temperamental side but now he was absolutely pissed, the room shook after a crashing thud and the sound of shattering glass. Sarah sat on the floor in the corner of the room looking like she was about to puke. “This is my fault.” She swallowed shaking harder. “He’s going to kill all of us.” Dina rushed over forcing herself under Sarah’s arm.

       More pleading words muffled by a chaotic symphony of harsh threats. There was a sharp yelp of pain and sudden silence. “Oh god.” Abby chocked hands clasping over her mouth. Once again the yelling picked up with a mocking tone. Dina panicked torn between trying to comfort a collapsing Sarah or her mother breaking down on the other side of the room. One final shudder rolled through the room as a door slammed shut and a more permanent silence settled.  The three of them sat in a stunned muteness afraid of what’s left on the other side of the door. The clock on the wall was ticking unusually loud, each second laboring through the stiff air.

       The doorknob rattled and opened slowly. Jacob staggered in holding a bloodied rag over half his face. Drops of blood rolled off his chin joining the streaks on his shirt. “He’s gone.” Jacob muffled voice taking on a congested tone. He collapsed onto the small bed by Abby pulling his eyes shut with a groan. “It’s alright.” Sarah sat still refusing to look up, Dina stayed stubbornly leaning against her chest. “Sarah,” He said softly. “This isn’t your fault.” Abby reached out with a shaking hand and took the cloth from Jacob attempting to clean-up some of the blood. She pulled it back uncovering the deep cuts and already darkening bruises.

       “Well,” She breathed dabbing at a deep line that cut through his lip. “You’ve certainly looked, better.” He glanced over with a tired laugh. “But I think he was kind enough to put your nose straight again. You know how my mother always complained about that.”

       “Is there anything she didn’t complain about?” His voice sharpened as he flinched away.

       “Sorry, sorry.” Abby pulled back from the particularly sensitive spot.

       He smiled slowly blood streaked on his teeth. “She’s out there living on spite alone. I can almost hear her blaming me for the infection still. Ohh,” His voice rose into a rattling impression. “Everyone is dead? Well, you should have married Thomas instead.” Abby sputtered into a laugh but it soon turned to an uncontrollable cough. Jacob reached up supporting her hand suddenly looking more pained then he had coming into the room.

       “She would have been much more passive aggressive about it.” She wheezed.

       “Maybe when you were in the room.” He sighed. “Girls, come over here.” Dina stood immediately trying to drag Sarah behind her. But her small frame couldn’t do anything more than move her arm. “Sarah.” He called more firmly. She slid up the wall and following behind Dina like a ghost. Sarah sat barely balancing on the edge of the bed while Dina curled on top of her father’s lap. “So. Apparently, you stabbed Denver.”

       “I’m so sorry.” She stammered in a rush, “I wasn’t thinking and I should of grabbed Dina and left. Now they’re,”

       “Thank you.” Sarah froze words sticking to the back of her throat. “You did what you had too, and frankly that’s something I struggle to do.” He trailed off staring out the window, the other buildings obscured by heavy snowfall. “I was too weak to leave and now we have to wait until spring for another chance. Until then we’ll just have to stick closer together.”

       “I’m already stuck to you, look.” Dina grinned as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

       Jacob chuckled patting her back. “Someone’s got the right idea.” He leaned over kissing Sarah’s forehead. “It’s never wrong to fight if you’re protecting someone. I only wish I could do more.”

 

\---X---

       Months of discussion hadn’t prepared any of them for the pain of leaving. Jacob moved ghostlike through the room filling his bag with any possibly useful item. Months of stowing extra items had still only left them with a meager collection. Abby barely watched with half-closed eyes, each breath was more rattle then air. “Just let me be useful one more time.” She whispered.

       Dina stood arms wrapped around Sarah’s waist as hot tears continued to fall down her cheeks. Her bag was mostly empty, just a water bottle and stuffed grey koala, yet it seemed to be weighing down on her spirit. Jacob dug into a nook hidden in the wall almost afraid the time would have lost the one item of value he owned from before. It was by some miracle the raiders hadn’t found and taken it when they were first brought in. He stood slowly strapping a silver pistol to his side still facing the window. The rain was pounding down and gusts of wind would toss it in every direction. “Use has never been what we are judged by.”

       “They’ll expect you to come back and bury me. That will give you two maybe even three days head-start.”

       “Don’t say it like that.”

       “Like what? I’ve lived longer than most. The least I can do is make those cowards clean a stinking corpse from their building.” She laughed weakly. “God has been calling for a long time. I’ve just been too stubborn to answer.”

       Jacob turned his brow pulled into a tight line. He forced himself forward kneeling at the side of the bed. “Goodbye.” His whisper cracked as he took her hand. “I can only hope we’ll meet again.”

       “Hopefully not too soon.” She smiled weakly. “We were lucky enough to be given two daughters. Save your energy and worry about them instead of me.”

       “Save yours and curse whoever is the next to come into this room.” He quipped looking up with heavy eyes. Years of the world beating down yet all he saw was the women he had fallen for so long ago.

       Abby’s chuckle soon turned into a ragged cough. “You wouldn’t believe what I’ve had time to come up with. My mother will be rolling in her grave.”

       His smile was tight and his eyes stung as he pressed his forehead against Abby’s. “Goodnight my love.” He pressed forward with a kiss knowing it would be the last.

       “Give them hell.” She nodded.

       He marched determined not to fail again. He sniffed whipping a hand under her nose. “Stay close.” He said passing the two girls and throwing open the door. It cracked open like a lightning bolt and they were hit with the cold wave of air. Like a pack of mice, they fled into the trees leaving the sinking ship behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever cry while trying to write? eha ha.... Send help. I know this lil story isn't going to get a whole lot of traffic so if you have any questions I will gladly give all sorts of director commentary. There's so much I wanted to include but I also felt less is more in this specific setting. And a serious thanks again for donating your time and reading this.


	3. Hollow is his name

     “What the hell?” Sarah spun scratching her ear and glaring at the giggling two behind her. Dina sat with her elbows propped on her father’s head as she rode on top of his shoulders.

     “It must be those flies again. They really do seem to like you.” She chimed.

     “Uh-hu.” Sarah said skeptically focusing back on the path ahead. So far the only thing they had to worry about was tripping on a hidden branch. The weeks of endless walking were becoming one long blur as they skirted around all the cites and any other cluster of buildings. They rarely stopped unless it was a completely secluded house. A few more minutes passed and Jacob lifted the long grass again grinning as he tried to barely brush it on the top of Sarah’s ear. Dina let out an involuntary giggle as she watched Sarah’s trying to brush it away. “Seriously.” She stopped whipping around.

     Jacob dropped the grass in a flash and stood innocently unarmed. “And don’t call me Shirley.” Sarah stammered for a minute confused. He sighed slowly. “Okay, so that’s definitely a movie you’ll never see.”

     “What?”

     “Man back in my day we had tv and none of these ridiculously insistent flies.” He said with his hands on his hips. Sarah’s brow crawled up unimpressed by the act. She looked up at Dina who was obviously biting down a smile as she stared intently at her own hands. “Keep walking. It’s only getting darker.” He shooed with his hands. She turned slowly before heading back to the grind. Jacob waited a few minutes before plucking another grass. He craned his head back in order to give Dina a little wink. He reached out aiming for Sarah's exposed neck. Just as he was about to strike Dina couldn’t hold back any longer and a small giggle escaped.

     Sarah twisted her hand shooting out and grabbing the plant. “I knew it! You’ve been driving me crazy.” Jacob and Dina broke down cackling. Sarah couldn’t hold a frown and soon joined the two. “See if I ever take the lead again.” She shot back.

     “Come on. You’ve just been going in circles.” Jacob retorted.

     “Oh, whatever.” She threw the grass and it floated disappointingly from her hand. Causing another round of giggles. A snap in the distance stole their attention. They all fell silent and any color that had entered the air was sucked out. Jacob reached up and slowly pulled Dina down and set her back onto the ground. They stood frozen with ears trying to reach out further than their eyes.

     More crackling and a low rumble of voices. Jacob motioned to a spot off the trail and they picked their way through without making a sound. They laid flat on the ground blending with the shadows. Jacob held the gun pointed at the natural road. It was a few minutes before the voices were close enough to hear. It seemed like two younger men talking about tracking a doe. The voices came then the voices faded. They stayed flush with the forest floor for another dozen minutes after the sounds had completely faded. The rest of the day was quiet. When they finally settled for the night they set the bedrolls straight on the ground and didn’t light a fire.

**********

     “Let’s try this again,” Jacob grumbled trying to set up the snare again. He was running off faint memories and the grace of God alone. “Dina are you paying attention?” She nodded tiredly sitting with her chin resting in her hands. “Okay, so lunch comes walking up.” He took his short stick walking it up towards the looped wire. “It follows the trail and steps in here.” He tensed waiting for the trap to close but the loop sat unmoving. “Here.” He tapped the ground again and nothing happened. Dina jerked up nearly falling forward as she began to doze off. “What am I doing wrong here?” He sighed beginning to think that the wiring he pulled from an old engine block might be to thick for this to work. Without warning the branch he had tied it to whipped up grazing the side of his face. He let out a short yelp of surprise watching as the wire swung back and forth in the air.

     “Was that it?” Dina shot up blinking heavily.

     “Almost.” He sat staring at the materials he had trying to figure out what just happened and why he couldn’t get it to work when he needed it to.

     “Oh Abba, your face.” Dina came over reaching up to a shallow scratch going up the side of his jaw. “I can fix it.” She kissed his cheek wrapping his head up in a hug.

     Jacob smiled leaning into the hug. “Go help Sarah with the water. I think we’re going to stay here for a few days.”

     “Okay.” Dina nodded glad to have something to do.

     As soon as she was out of sight he let out a frustrated groan shaking out his hands and shoulders. Several years of schooling to save lives yet here was being defeated by a twig. God is laughing right now. He could feel it. But just like the rest of man he was too stubborn give up.

-X-

     A few months, spring had come and gone and the days were stretching out longer. It was hard to tell just how far they were moving but he knew they were far from where they had come. They saw few people and were only seen if they wanted to be. Even that was a rare occurrence to see another traveling group that he deemed safe. A few accepted medical help in trade for food or information about where they had come from. Most of these conversations were tense, short, and often more trouble than they were worth. There were a few groups that stuck out, people searching for the fireflies, others running away just as they were. They sidestepped buildings as much as possible, there was hardly anything of use left in these cities anyways. If you moved slowly and quietly around the edges you could often avoid most of the infected as well. But they always managed to show up at times you weren’t ready. A dirty steel baseball bat hung off Sarah’s bag swinging back and forth which each step. There were times when Jacob would look at it and laugh a little bit. Bats had always seemed like a useless prop in the zombie movies he had grown up with. Sometimes he could just pretend that’s all that was going on, they were just a group of travelers in a bad movie. One day the director would call cut, they could wash off all the makeup and go home. What an interesting word home was.

     “Twenty-one and seven,” Sarah called out Dina turned with a squint, fingers tapping up and down on her hip.

     “One forty-seven.” She shot back. They would often pass the time odd clips of music, stories, and today apparently, math. Jacob plucked another flower tying it into the chain he had been working on. Farmers had been told to leave the edges of their fields unharvested for the poor and travelers. Now everything grew wherever it pleased. It was nothing short of amazing looking at how quickly nature overtook areas. Tall trees beginning to fill baseball fields. Rivers and streams carving through roads. Ivy crawling up wall and light posts, one of his personal favorites.

     “Negative four? Wait no, no I didn’t say that! Three, three! Agh!” Dina tried to doge as Sarah pelted her with whatever was in reach. Jacob chuckled watching as they went back and forth.

     He finished tying the stems together and pulled the other one off his belt. “Girls stop beating each other up for a second and come here.” They turned and Dina practically skipped back the few steps.

     “What’s up?” Dina grinned while Jacob brushed some grass out of her hair.

     “I made you a crown.” Her eyes went wide as he set one down on her head. “Come on I made one for you too.” He waved Sarah over and she slowly agreed with a bashful smile.

     “I’m a fairy.” Dina bounced up and down adjusting the ring. “Sarah tell me I’m pretty.” She teased.

     “You’re a goblin king.”

     “Hey come on. You’re both my beautiful wonderful daughters.”

     “Where’s your crown?” Dina asked. “Wait, doesn’t matter I’ll make it.” She shot of zig-zagging through the tall grass to find only the most perfect flowers. The final product wasn’t nearly as good as Jacob’s, but he still wore it proudly.

 

***********

     Sarah watched as Dina absently poked at the small fire. Waiting until the end of the stick caught fire then taking it out and watching the glow fizzle out. “You doing okay?” She asked after another long breath. At this point she figured Dina’s sighs could easily power a small sailboat.

     “Fine.” She mumbled into her hand. She slouched further down staring into the flame.

     “You sure? You’ve just been a little quiet lately...”

     “All we do is walk and that’s boring.” Dina started flicking leaves into the fire. They flared up and disappeared within seconds. “I miss home.” She whispered, then after another long silence. “And Abba.”

     Sarah felt the sharp ping in her chest. As careful as they had been the world still insisted on whittling the family even smaller. Three days they had stayed in that house. It wasn’t until the last that they tried checking the stuck door leading into the basement. The spores eagerly flew from the tight space into the clean air. The small handgun weighed heavily on her hip, but it was nothing compared to how lost she felt. “Do you wanna talk about it?” Sarah offered weakly.

     Dina shook her head. “Can I just go to sleep? I’m not really hungry.”

     “That’s alright. Maybe tomorrow we’ll find somewhere to take more of a break.”

     Dina curled under the leather tan jacket that was double her size. “Does that even matter?” She muttered facing away. Sarah sat in the silence for hours pulling apart a few different rodents and squirrels they had caught. She did her best to prepare them to last a few days while also sorting through the different plants they had collected. Just over a month alone and she had barely slept. Jacob had a few hours before the symptoms started to show. He desperately rushed through any advice and directions on where to go. Vague orders of cities they would pass and warning that winter comes sooner the further north they headed. At this rate she had less than two months to find somewhere safe and prepare. She had no idea how much further to go and no clue how much longer she could keep herself together.

     Sarah woke as soon as the sun rose, which was far too early. As far as she could tell her eye bags also had bags. Dina was still asleep on the other side of the black remains of the fire curled in almost the same spot as when Sarah had last checked. She stood vision swirling from the effort. She took a moment to steady herself before wandering over to Dina. “Let’s get going Dibs.” She lightly kicked her shoulder.

     “Mmmgh.” She groaned face scrunching into a frown.

     “Come on I hate sleeping on the ground as much as you do.” She rocked Dina back and forth with her foot. “If I’m rounding right we should be getting to the edge of the next town soon.”

     “Stop it.” She whined struggling to throw Sarah’s foot away. Dina sat up squinting angrily into the distance.

     “Why such a grumpy face.” Sarah teased leaning over and sticking her face into Dinas. Dina blindly swung her arm out clipping Sarah’s chin. She flinched back, “First of all, ow.”

     “Sorry.” Dina sighed dejectedly.

     Sarah tiredly ran her hands across her face before kneeling in front of Dina. “Seriously dude, what’s going on?”

     Dina pulled her knees up under her chin. “You don’t even know where we're going.” Her voice cracked.

     “You’re right.” Sarah nodded causing Dina to glance up with red eyes. “I just know Jacob said to head north, so that’s what we’re doing. I, I know that’s not a whole lot to go on but we have to keep moving. It sucks that were alone, but since I’m in charge.” She trailed off suddenly smiling. “Do you want to know how to swear in Hebrew?”

     “What?” Dina’s brow quirked up.

     “Neither of us have parents now. You’re allowed to swear whenever you want.”

     “You can swear in Hebrew?” Dina asked confused. “But it’s in the bible.”

     Sarah laughed with a short snort. “Dina Hebrew is an entire language, -well at one point it’s kind of mix of a few things now. It’s a really old language and most of it is probably lost, That’s a different  story-,” She waved getting off topic, “Of course you can swear in it.”

     Dina’s young eyes lit up and she whispered excitedly. “Tell me.”

     “After you eat breakfast and we find the next mile marker.” Dina clambered up throwing her bag on she held her hand out waiting for whatever food Sarah had prepared. Sarah chuckled pulling out the meat she had prepared the night before. “Calm down. I can’t tell you everything at once.” She leaned forward kissing Dina’s forehead.

     “Hell yeah?” Dina said quietly looking up nervously like she might still get in trouble.

     “You know what, that’s close enough. Hell yeah.” She agreed, and for a few moments the exhaustion was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jacob is such a pure soft boi. In a different world, he and his wife would be living in some run-down apartment as they tried to get by the first few years. Both of them always forget to water the pet plant.*insert sobbing* Why, why do I do this to myself?


	4. Snow place like a borrowed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent like three hours re-writing this chapter just to close the wrong draft and not save any of it. Why must my hobbies cause such pain and suffering?

      “Are you sure?” Dina nodded staring down the group. They had been tailing them for the past days since they were clearing out all of the infected. Allowing them to travel further into the city then they had dared before and gathering some much-needed supplies.

      “He’s hurt and they obviously have no clue what to do. The lady doesn’t look scared either.” Sarah glanced up realizing that Dina’s unusual observation was more than correct. “They need help.” She huffed determined.

      Sarah tried to push down the lump in her throat. For weeks they had managed to survive alone. Exposing themselves now could be a death sentence but damn did she need time to rest. She reached towards the gun on her hip, “take this and cover me.”

      Dina shook her head holding the gun down. “It’s suspicious to walk around with an empty holster. Just be honest.”

      Sarah bit her lip wondering just how tired she was to be taking advice from a child. Another breath and she stood walking into the clearing with her hands up. “Hey,” she called out stating her presence. The group tensed and there was suddenly two rifles and a bow pointed at her. “I saw what happened. That guy there is going into shock and it’s going to get a lot worse. I can help.”

      “Who the fuck are you?” One of the riflemen snapped. Sarah could barely hear over the blood rushing through her ears. Her still raised hands shook.

      “I’ve spent the last couple of years working with injuries exactly like this. I can trade any medical help for a few days of safe passage.”

      Eyes shot back and forth until the woman nodded. Apparently she was the leader of the group. They all lowered their weapons but still kept a tight grip should she move to fast. “How would a kid like you know anything about medicine?” The women asked stepping forward.

      “My,” she paused for a moment. “Godfather was a doctor before the infection. He spent the last years of his life teaching me and my sister. We’re alone and just need help getting through this area.” She turned anxiously around and Dina stood with a little wave.

      “Jesus. That’s the youngest kid I’ve seen in years.” The women sighed. She turned with a frown at the injured member who was pale as a sheet at shaking with staggered breaths. “Let her through. I doubt she could do anything worse to him at this point.”

      “Thank you.” Sarah nodded and quickly induced herself and Dina.

      As she and Dina scrambled forward kneeling in front of the man the women quickly ran through the group. “I’m Kari. That’s Moe, Will, and the poor bastard is Henry. There were a few more but we haven’t seen them in months...”

      Sarah nodded already aware of the others but didn’t say anything to avoid incriminating herself. “Dina find some better splints these aren’t tight enough to keep the bone in place.” She ordered shuffling through her bag. “Henry looks like you’ve messed up. Can you hear me?” He sat blinking wildly in every direction. Sarah snapped a couple of times in front of his face and there was no reaction as he sat huffing and clutching the arm to his chest. “Okay. That’s not good. I’m going to need to reset the bone. If some of you could help hold him still that would be great.”

      The man sat looking confused by the order. “Come on numb-nuts. Do what the lady says.” Kari waved at him. She looked down at an unexpected tug on her shirt. “Uhhh, yeah?”

      Dina stood patiently beside her. “Can I borrow that?” She pointed at a hefty knife on Karis bag. Kari obliged passing the knife, some deep memories were screaming that she shouldn’t be giving such a weapon to a child. Almost immediately Dina peeled the bark from a solid branch before splitting it near perfectly down the middle. The crack of wood was synonymous with the duller crack of bone.

      Henry let out a yelp before passing out. “Don’t worry he’ll be fine. Just wait a couple of minutes.” Sarah cooed still working to manipulate everything into place. “Dina do you have the,”

      “Yeah, one sec,” Dina grunted shaving off a few rouge splinters before moving behind Sarah. She worked to set the splints in place while Sarah held the arm steady.

      “Do you guys have a way out of here or are you just making it up?” Sarah asked tightly winding a long bandage over Henry’s entire arm.

      “We had a pretty good plan but as you can see that failed,” Moe said with a slow calculation. His eyes burned through dark untrimmed hair. Of the entire group, he still seemed the most untrusting of them.

      “Shut up would you? It’s not like you can ever plan on a floor collapsing.” Will snapped. “At this point I’m surprised we even trust them to stay up. We can cut the trip short and go through the sewers to pass the worst of everything.”

      “God ladies stop fighting,” Kari said. “You’re making it sound like the end of the world.”

      “Booooooooo!” Will called out throwing a chunk of bark at Kari. “I’d rather die than listen to you anyways.”

      “Aw, don’t die. I need you for zombie bait.” She said pursing her lips out. Moe sighed showing his lack of patience with the entire display. Sarah sat awkwardly not knowing if it was safe to intrude. “Since Henry’s down we should start heading back. I know it’s shitty,” She froze with a small snort, “no pun intended, to go through the sewers but at least they’re mostly clear. Can you uhh, wake him up?” Kari motioned towards a still unconscious Henry.

      “Of course. Yeah yeah....” Sarah said digging through her bag glad to have moved on from whatever train wreck she had just witnessed. She pulled out a black film canister stuffed with cotton balls. And waved it under Henry’s nose for a few seconds.

      His head snapped up his face contorted. “What the, ahhg.” He hissed cradling his arm again in pain. “What is that?” He whined eyes watering.

      “Amnia.” Dina chirped. Sarah bit her lip smiling at the mispronunciation. “What?” Dina asked immediately noticing the slight judgment. Sarah just shook her head pushing the answer to a later time. “What did I do?” She kept asking as they began following behind the group.

********

      Dina squirmed pulling at the elastic band that kept hitting her ear. “Hey, gimme a second it’s not like they make these things for kids,” Will said trying to adjust the respirator. The straps wouldn’t tighten enough to keep the half mask up, eventually, he gave up and cut the band in order to tie a knot in the back. “How’s that?” He crouched down beaming at his handy work.

      “I don't like it.” Dina muffled feeling like a bobblehead figure with the mask on.

      “Well it takes a while to get used to but after that you forget you're even wearing it.”

      “Are you sure these are enough?” Sarah asked adjusting her own mask skeptically looking at the heavy full masked everyone else had.

      “Man these were top of the line at one point. This is more than enough to keep the spores out. I knew a guy who just wore a bandana to deal with the spores, I guess he’s dead now.” he trailed off snapping back up “Because of something else, not the bandanas.” The rest of the group was digging through the remains of the small hardware store. One thing was apparent, in case of apocalypse, nobody cares about pliers and carabiners. “Goggles.” Will snapped rushing off again within moments he was back tearing apart the rotted cardboard surrounding the pairs of bulky plastic goggles. “One for you and one for you.” He sang handing them to the girls.

      “What do you think?” Sarah asked watching Dina insistently adjusting the different straps.

      She turned staring up at Sarah with the bulky gear. “I think you look stupid.” The corners of her eyes betrayed a wide grin.

      Sarah sighed and scooped Dina up and flopped her over her shoulder. “Say that again you little turd.” Dina just cackled as she was wildly spun around. Will and Henry also joined with stifled laughter of their own watching the entire display.

      They were cut short from a harsh clearing of a throat. “That’s more than enough.” Moe frowned walking through the door. Tied to his waist was a handful of small game.

      “Sorry.” Sarah immediately set Dina back down and she took a few dizzy steps.

      “We need to be ready as soon as the other two get back. If we’re going through the sewers we need to make sure there’s enough food.” He took the sling off and dropped the handful of rodents and two rabbits down in front of them. “Get to work.” He shut the door behind him already stalking off again.

      “Killjoy.” Henry sighed leaning back on the damp couch.

********

      Salt Lake was days behind them. Kari and her brothers had been hoping to get past the mountains before winter hit but each day the air bit further into their jackets. Their breath clouded out in the mornings and the days were rapidly growing shorter. This morning they had woken up to frost on the ground and their bags. “Jeez your shivering is making me sore,” Will said tossing his thick jacket onto Dina’s shoulders as she sat curled up by a sputtering fire.

      “Then st,top looking at me.” Her words jittered as she tried to pull her knees up under the coat. Supposedly they were going to break away from the group as soon as Henry was back up and running. But they had been together for a good few months now. Sarah knew it was because Dina had managed to work her way into whatever soft-spots they had. Even Moe would break from his flat demeanor when Dina waved good morning. “I know dad said it would be colder but this is stupid.”

      “Dina it hasn’t even started snowing yet.” Sarah said wrapping an arm around her.

      “Don’t, remind me.” Kari and Moe, we’re heading back with whatever had stumbled into the snares they had set the night before.

      “Morning.” Kari nodded to each as she approached. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear but it looks like we’re going to have to find a place to set up long term pretty soon.”

      “Hey, the fact that you’re even keeping us around is the only news that matters.”

      “Come on. Who would abandon two cute faces like that?” Henry said wrapping around Will in a big bear hug. “That’s the only reason you’ve kept me around.” He leaned in kissing his cheek and pulled back with a frown. “You need to shave.”

      “You need to stop losing all my razors.”

      It was two days later that the first flakes began to fall. They’d been lucky enough to find a large house far from the city. The peach stucco was starting to crumble away and most of the shingles had been blown off but the inside had remained untouched. Even crazier considering the garage door wasn’t even locked.

      “Man I know they’re probably all dead but, country people are the best.” Will sniffed staring at a fully stocked pantry. “Prepared for everything.”

      “Wow.” Henry stuck his head in. “This is kinda ridiculous.”

      “They went even here when it happened,” Moe said flipping through a calendar hanging off the side of the fridge. “Family reunion Mexico.” He read out slowly, “Sometimes I wish we could see what’s going on in other countries. Twenty bucks if the Australians haven’t noticed a difference.”

      Will turn humming. “Wonder all you want but I’m going to find some new clothes. This shirt is fusing to my skin.”

      Everyone nodded in agreement.

********

      Will jumped skipping the last few steps and landed with a solid pooomf. The snow was almost passing his knees. “As much as I hate to say it, I’ve missed the powder.” He grinned shuffling away leaving a deep trail.

      Dina glared out of the little space between her hat scarf, scarf, and other scarf. Whatever snow she had dealt with before always got a crusty layer over the top and was anything but fun. “I don’t trust it. I’m going back inside.” Every time she moved her clothes stretched and complained.

      “No you’re not. This is mandatory family fun.” Sarah said turning her back around. For some reason she only had like two jackets on.

      “Who are you again?” Dina asked still trying to waddle away.

      Sarah looked over at Henry who gave a silent nod. “You’ve just got to try it.” She grunted grabbing one arm while Henry took the other. They picked Dina up swinging her back before throwing her off the porch into the deep snow. There was a short scream followed by another pooompf. In the snow was a perfectly Dina shaped hole.

      “Fuck you guys!!” She tried to flip them off but the thick gloves really dampened the effect.

      “Family fun. Family fun.” Will started chanting. He got hit in the face with a snowball. Neither Henry or Sarah admitted to it.

********

      Some days passed slower than others. The house was just big enough that they never felt like they were running on top of each other. While the pantry was full the variety left more to be desired. A person can only eat so much ancient canned chili and peanut butter in a week. Moe was able to set up a few traps and soon they were able to get some amount of diversity in the days. He taught Dina and Sarah the best ways to skin the different animals, including a deer. That lasted a good amount of time. They had been able to dig out a cave in the snow to keep the meat frozen and add it to meals as needed. 

      In the basement there was a pool table that was starting to get holes in its green top. Tournaments could last for hours as they kept adding and making up different rules. Often times Dina would have to stand on a chair to reach the cue ball. That or Henry would cheat a little bit and scoot it closer to the side when no one was looking. Sometimes the shots would get a little too wild and a ball would fly off and bounce across the hard floor. There was one cracked tile but they went sure if it was from before or after they had shown up.

      Kari immediately took to the small piano in the living room playing some of the most beautiful songs to fill the air. Dina immediately wanted to learn and Kari did her best to work through some of the books that were left in the bench. She would practice through the simple songs one note at a time until her fingers were too cold to move. Every once in a while Sarah would sit in and try to play something but would just laugh after hitting enough wrong notes and walk off again. She had a guitar back home, if they could find one she would much rather play that then whatever witchcraft it was to have hundreds of keys. There was a trumpet in one of the closets. No one knew how to play it and they could only manage to make god awful duck murder sounds.

      There were plenty of books and comics that they slowly passed around. Dina had found a stack of scrapbooks and flipped slowly through the lives of complete strangers catching fragments of personality’s and accomplishments. She wondered if she would ever have a picture of herself taken.  Moe set up a target range in the living room and Dina would roll around shooting the walls with a bb gun. Will and Henry would re-enact movies that they could remember while Moe would always bring up plot points they completely glossed over.

      As much as they tried to keep entertained there were some days where they just accepted the boredom. “It probably started snowing late November. I know there were years where there would be blizzards all the way up into April.” Henry droned. They were all loitering around in the storage area downstairs. Where there more comfortable spots? Yep. Were they going to move? Probably not.

      “Please tell me it’s March already.” Dina groaned sitting in the space between two shelves.

      “Moe, what do you think it is?” Henry asked tossing a ball up and catching it. Although lying on his back it had fallen and hit his face a few times.

      Moe shifted checking his watch. He was a few minutes from dozing off. “January 2 give or take a few days.”

      “Uuuuuuugggghhhhhhh.” Dina flopped back and died. They sat staring at various walls for a good portion of that day.

      It was these types of days that other important discoveries were made. “You didn’t notice they look exactly alike?” Sarah teased.

      “Well yeah they look _similar_ ,” Dina emphasized, “They’re siblings.”

      “We’re twins.” Kari clarified. Pulling closer to Will and they gave off the same dopey grin. “I know the identical ones get all the attention but in this case, Will hogs it all.”

      Dina stared critically at the two of them. “No. You’re just saying that to fuck with me. There’s no way that would be possible.” They laughed still trying to explain how things like that could work. “No! Your mom would have to of been huge.”

      “Was that a yo mama joke?” Will snorted. “Twins are actually pretty common. People could have triplets, quadruplets.” He paused with a tilt looking at Kari. “Wasn’t there some big thing about octuplets that all survived?”

      “Shit, I think so?”

      “Eight?!” Dina screeched rocking back.

      “It’s really not that weird of a thing.” Kari held her hands out.

      Moe walked in more than interested in whatever they were arguing about. Dina glanced up hoping for one sane person to add to clear up the whole debate. “I thought having one sibling would be bad. Imagine having to give up your room for two little assholes at the same time.” Dina cupped her head with her hands and stared at the floor for a long time.

********

      “What’s going on?” Dina asked being barred from the stairs again.

      “You can’t go upstairs yet.” Kari grinned. “There's wolves.”

      “Yeah, and ten minutes ago it was snakes.” She tried to squeeze past but Kari stubbornly sat in the way. “Sarah, help me get her to move.” She grunted.

      “Why?” Sarah peeked her head out. “There’s nothing upstairs.”

      “Then why won’t you let me go?” She growled again. More than anything Dina was just bored but the fact she was being told what not to do? That was a challenge.

      “There’s bears.” Sarah lied coming out and sitting next to Kari. “Real big and hungry for little Dina’s.”

      “I’m not little,” Dina said trying to just climb straight over Sarah’s shoulders. Which was a poor choice since now her legs were trapped in a hug. “Let me go.” She snarled trying to flip over the top of Sarah.

      “Crazy weather we’ve been having right?” Sarah asked Kari ignoring the fact there was an entire child on her head.

      “Moe! Help me.” Dina cried out seeing him walking past the top.

      “Everything’s done. You can come up now.” Moe called down.

      “Thank god.” Sarah sighed setting Dina free. “Ow.” A foot had caught her head as Dina flopped over. She was bear crawling up the stairs desperate for freedom. Dina spun into the kitchen where all the guys were. A few plates of food were set up and the room was warm from a bed of coals in the stove.

      “Hey, there she is.” Henry greeted. There was an unfamiliar smell in the air. Will turned blocking her view of the stove. Dina’s eyes squinted suspiciously; everyone seemed to know something she didn’t. “Do we sing or just eat?”

      “I didn’t live this long to still have to sing that god awful song still,” Kari said trailing behind.

      “That’s fair.” Will nodded. He turned grabbing a large glass pan. Holding it out he took an exaggerated breath.

      “Happy birthday!” Everyone cheered with varying degrees of success. Dina jumped in surprise she turned to see Sarah grinning widely. She had practically forgotten it was February.

      “We did our best to do this cake we had to substitute a couple of things,”

      “I’ve never had cake?”

      “Then it’s perfect!” Will cheered. “You have to eat dinner first.” He turned to Moe with a grin. “Do I sound like Mom yet? Or is that supposed to be your job still?”

********

      “Have you decided what you want to do yet?” Kari asked sitting on the window sill. The sun finally starting to cut through the gray overcast and warm the air.

      Sarah leaned forward onto her fists. “I don’t know.” She but her lip tracking a bird as it flew by. “We were told to go to Idaho or Montana but it’s not like we know if anything is even out there.”

      “We were up in Idaho a few years ago. It wasn’t too bad. All else fails there’s plenty of spots you could set up for quite a while. I don’t know much about gardening but I bet you two could figure it out.” Kari focused in on the little bracelet she was repairing. The original band had broken but she was putting all the beads onto a stronger leather piece she’d made from an old belt. “You can stay with us but I can’t guarantee it will be any safer. The fact you made it almost a year by yourself with nothing but a pistol is more than showing that you’re capable of making it alone.” Sarah didn’t reply keeping still staring out at the melting snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh yea, protect Dina squad has tripled. Just how spoiled can one lil kid get? And to the two people reading this still, thank.


	5. Alone again

 

      It hurt. Sarah walked pushing the bike loaded with supplies up a particularly steep hill. At least leaving their home the first time was out of necessity, clickers overrunning dozens of family’s in a single night. The second barely counted as a home, leaving that was more like escaping a prison. Dina was trailing a few feet behind the occasional tear falling down her cheek. The pain of leaving Kari's group seemed to just more than losing her entire family. She kept pushing on, after this hill she could already see another. Just a couple of months yet it felt like they had become more than a little family. When she had told Dina they were leaving she was visibly shaken but just nodded.

      “I trust you.” Dina slowly agreed. They said their goodbyes hugging everyone; even Moe was close to breaking down. What hurt most is the constant fear that she had fucked everything up. She had no clue where they were going. Sure they had learned a few more skills in the last months but if anything happened to Dina she would die before forgiving herself. Days dragged on as they pushed forward. Those soon turned to weeks and she realized just how quite Dina had become since Jacob passed. At times the silence was terrifying.

      ‘Don’t fuck this up. Don’t fuck up. Don’t fuck up.’ Her mind played with each step it would repeat and repeat until her feet ached and they had to stop for the night. It would play again and again as they skinned each rabbit, bird, and rodent. ‘Don’t fuck this up.’

********

      “It’s a little early but they’re not bad.” Sarah encouraged biting down on another purple berry. Dina stared inspecting the hard fruit from every angle turning it around in her fingers. “It’s not like it’s going to bite.”

      “Huckleberry sounds like a word you just made up. Are you sure they’re not poisonous?”

      “Oh damn. Why didn’t I think of that before?” Sarah said spinning a hand out in front of her before setting it on her forehead with flair. She popped another in her mouth. “The only thing that could kill you around here is me.”

      After a few more seconds Dina broke and downed a handful of the dull berries. She bit down and her face froze. Sarah grinned watching as she puckered hopping back a few steps. “God. Why?” She sputtered at the overpowering bitter taste. Sarah stepped back laughing. There were few things to do these days, the least she could do is pick on Dina every once and a while. Her face had reached maximum scrunch as she weakly tried spitting them out. The purple mash clung stubbornly to her tongue as she sat with it hanging out.

      “Something wrong there Dibs?” Sarah said eating another. Sure they should probably wait a couple of weeks for them to ripen but it wasn’t that bad.

      “You monster.” Dina coughed. Sarah had accepted the fact that she was probably going to be pelted with hard berries for the rest of the day. It was a small price to pay. These and hundreds of similar bushes had been popping the further north they got. She remembered how amazed they had first been coming into Utah at how lush the areas were. That seemed like nothing compared to the mountains they were in now. Supposedly this was still a dry climate, what would it look like on the east coast? Or any coast for that matter? They kept moving on looking for something. What it was still undetermined. Their supplies had slowly been reduced back to what they could carry on their backs by that was fine since food was much more abundant out here. Hell, they had passed a wild herd of cattle a few days ago. If they had been feeling ambitious they could have killed one and munched in a leg for a good week. Sarah felt something bounce off the back of her neck. “Dick.” A quiet whisper.

      There was a pretty consistent pattern between hearing a bush rattling and getting hit a few moments later. That eventually broke when there was a long pause and she could tell Dina was gathering up a good fist full. She turned just in time to see here rearing back she ducked avoiding most of the onslaught a few hit the side of her face and rolled down into her shirt Sarah chuckled standing up but Dina threw her arms out suddenly serious. “Don’t move.” Sarah froze tempted to just tackle Dina on the spot. “Some of those just bounced off the air.”

      “What?” Sarah shook her head and as she turned Dina made a sharp inhale.

      “Hejepzeeeed.” She waved her hands out. “Seriously don’t move.” She set down her bag and moved forward slowly double checking each step before she put a foot down. She reached Sarah and guided her up before back a few feet. “You can see it from here.” She swallowed a dry lump pointing between two trees.

      Sarah frowned trying to find just what Dina was looking at. “If you’re bullshitting me you're taking the first watch for the rest of your lif-“ Dina threw a long branch it spun through the air before stopping mid-flight. For a moment she caught the glint of a steel wire before a sharp hiss came from above. A heavy log swung across the opening where she would have been standing. “Motherfuck!” She jumped back like a cat.

      “That’s not something for an animal.”

      “Yeah,” Sarah said eyes frantically searching the area. They had been following the same path for quite some time and it looks like that could’ve become a major mistake. “We’ve got to get out of here. Whoever set this up is not someone I want to meet.”

      “Yeah, no shit.” She agreed already racing back the way they had come.

      “Ey!” Sarah called out behind her. “Don’t go straight back to town.”

      “What a lovely idea. I was just going to see if those guys were home.” Dina hopped over giant root snaking across the path. “I was going for the river bed a mile back. Wanna go west or east for the rest of the day?”

      “Doesn’t matter.” All she knew is they needed to be far from here before the sunset.

********

      Sarah’s arm shot out to stop Dina from coming closer. The eerie clicks and moans were echoing off the walls in the damp garage. She has seen two of the clickers but could sense more nearby. She ducked back behind the semi taking a pained breath. They had run to this building to get out of a fierce downpour but soon after they got in the roof collapsed blocking their exit. The steady dribbles coming down some of the walls did nothing but add to the creepy level. There was a large garage door that was rusted open a good foot. It was still a dozen yards away and the path was anything but clear. She swore softly.

      “What are you thinking?” Dina breathed. Her words barely louder than the constant dips echoing around.

      “Do you think you can hit the windshield on the other truck from here?” Dina stretched forward to locate the one she was talking about. She nodded. “Break that and start heading towards the door.” She readjusted her grip on the bat. Was the dampness coming from her hands or the air? Dina pulled down her air rifle slowly pumping cringing at every small noise it made. After several seconds she shuffled forward resting an elbow on the bumper as she aimed. The gun fired with a sharp pop. They could hear the pellet hit and bounce off the window. None of the clickers took notice. Dina ducked back loading it again. Usually they’d just be lucky to kill a rabbit with the toy gun but now it could offer a more than valuable distraction. She peeked out a second time aiming for the small crack the first shot had created.

      This time the pop was followed by a loud shattering as the windshield disappeared into thousands of pieces. The horrid clicks suddenly intensified as they began running over. “Go go go,” Sarah panted running as fast as she dared in the low light. They followed along the long trailer cutting across to a stack of rusting steel pipes. She jerked pulling Dina back as another clicker ran by heading in the opposite direction. As soon as it passed they took off again. Halfway there, a quarter left, a few dozen feet.

      There was a screech and a form ran at them. A yellow safety vest managed to glow through the grime as he stumbled forward. Sarah swung fiercely hitting just under his ear and the clickers head snapped to the side. It wasn’t an old one, only a fist sized chunk of the fungus had begun sprouting from his eye. It wailed snapping back up but Sarah was already swinging again with a heavy grunt. Four hits before the thing went down. She didn’t have time to make sure it was dead since Dina was tugging at her arm. “Fuck.” She hissed watching as more had noticed them and were now running through the maze of construction equipment. They ran rolling under the door into an overgrown yard. More equipment was scattered about leaving ghostly imprints in the tall grass and weeds. Sarah didn’t see the old generator until she had tripped over it.

      “Damnit. Why are there so many here?” Dina said helping to pull her up. At least outsidethey could see them. But that also meant they were just as visible. There was a chain link fence surrounding the entire yard, the gate hung open at the far end. “Come on.” She groaned grabbing a brick and sent it hurtling towards one that was getting a little too close. They ducked down behind a rotten pallet of wood to catch their breath. The lack of echo was only a minor comfort.

      “Okay.” Sarah huffed. The clickers were at least thrown off for now. “Now what?” She pressed her eyes closed trying to hear anything over her heart ramming into her ribs. “Now what?” She asked herself again. Trying to get a better look at where they were. Dina was right, there seemed to be an awfully unusual amount of clickers in this area. They could try climbing the fence but thick rows of barbwire covered the top, assuming they could get that far before getting ripped apart. If they could get out and close the gate that would give them at least a little bit of extra time to get out of range.

      Dina wrapped her hand around Sarah’s. “We got this.” She encouraged. Sarah nodded leaning over to kiss her dirty forehead.

      “Tell me something I don’t know.” Sarah took a few final deep breaths. There wasn’t much they could do here besides run. She grabbed a rock and was able to divert the closest clicker. The thick mud prevented it from being loud enough to do much else. They took off towards the gate, three, then four of them were following. Sarah didn’t dare look behind, every time she did there was more of them. Seven then eight. They reached the gate and Dina turned so sharply she nearly fell as she slipped across the gravel. They slammed the gate shut but, “Oh damnit!” There was nothing to keep it closed. She searched the ground for anything. The first clicker ran into the fence rattling her hold. Sarah’s eyes widened in a panic, she could barely hold back the one let alone the rest.

      “I got it.” Dina shoved her rifle into the fence weaving the barrel into the links. More growling and they looked up to see two more running along outside the perimeter. “God why can’t they just chill.” They turned running towards the small town on the horizon. The fence clattered as the rest of the clickers began piling into the first. At least for now the little gun was holding. The other two were gaining ground as they ran along the edge of a small rise. Dina was just a few steps ahead

      “Dammit.” Sarah spat pulling out the pistol. Turning just long enough to aim at the first. The two shots ripped through its chest and it crumpled to the ground. “One mor-ah!”

      She didn’t get to finish as her foot slip out from under her. She threw her arm out trying to catch herself as she landed hard on one knee the other leg hanging off the side A short yelp and her body had already rolled over the edge. Dina turned just in time to see her disappear from sight. “Sarah!” The scream tore from her throat but she didn’t have enough time for that as the clicker was almost on top of her. Dina’s breath hitched and time seemed to freeze.

      The clicker sat in front of her one arm out reaching to rip her apart. Just behind it her father’s pistol was laying on the ground. She blinked diving to the side just as the arm ripped through the now empty space. She reached out managing to reach the barrel as the creature turned shoulders hunching forward as it released another grinding screech. Dina rolled to her back slapping the gun into her hand as she aimed up.

      There was a moment where everything seemed calm, peaceful almost. Her hands wrapped around the stock and were guided up. She didn’t feel like she was aiming but the trigger pulled down. The recoil was much harder then she had expected but she managed to keep hold of the weapon.

      The bullet streaked up into the top of the clickers open mouth. A spurt of thick blood shot out towards her as it fell backward. Dina sat frozen shocked by the sudden silence. She had killed it, with just one hit. One hell of a lucky hit. She sat breathing heavily for a few more seconds before realizing she was alone. “Sarah.” She said scrambling up to her knees. “Sarah.” She cries out realizing that the silence might be worse than anything she had ever experienced before. She crawled to the edge looking down.

      “Oh god.” It wasn’t a cliff by any means but the fall had been more than enough. “Fuck. Fuck!” That was a lot of blood for such a short time. She turned climbing down the edge and ran to her side. “Sarah?” Dina’s voice cracked as she brushed the hair away from her face. She leaned down and could hear faint breaths. “You’re going to be fine you hear me?” She straightened out her head before moving to her leg. Dina’s stomach flipped looking at it.

      Broken was an understatement. Seeing the bone was enough to make her panic, but the blood rapidly pooling onto the dirt kept her grounded in a morbidly necessary way. She needed to fix this, now. “Okay. This is okay. I can do this.” Dina said trying to calm herself tossing her backpack down and dumping everything out onto the road. She tied a tight band just above Sarah’s knee to slow the bleeding before trying to reset the bone. She blinked trying to keep back the tears that were threatening to blur her vision. Or was the blurring vision coming from the fact she couldn’t breathe? She knelt preparing to reset the bone, is that what you call it when it’s looking at you? It had broken so close to her knee there was no telling if she could even get it close enough to heal right. Not to mention the only bone she had set by herself before was someone’s fucking pinky finger. “Focus damnit.” She had to remind herself. She pressed down on the bone while simultaneously pulling her leg straight. The wet popping noise brought up a whole new round of nausea. She turned to the side gagging and coughing. Sarah’s head lifted for a moment with a sharp painful gasp before falling back.

      “You’re not dead yet, great.” She nervously mumbled to herself trying to make any final adjustments. “Jesus.” She shook again. Her hands were covered in blood and her jeans were starting to soak through. There was hardly any string left so the stitches were few and far between. Dina’s jaw was clenched tight enough that she was prepared to hear teeth cracking at any moment. She had taken every bandage, scrap they had and it was still bleeding through. She pulled her shirt off trying the sleeves as tightly as she could. The splint was to short, but it’s all she could find for now. Nothing was good about this and she knew it. “Just don’t die. For the love of god you can’t die too.” She had nothing to wipe her face with except her ratty tank top. And with that move everything was officially covered in her blood. “Please don’t die on me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooophf, who did that? I wonder if they'll make it out.


	6. Time Flies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grammarly: You're sentences are really long. You should maybe fix that. :(
> 
> Me with middle fingers blazing as I add fourth and fifth commas: Whomth?

      The few miles it took to get to town had taken the rest of the day and well into the night. Carrying both bags and dragging Sarah easily outweighed Dina. She could have left the supplies behind but then what? Leave Sarah for hours to go back and get them or, live without anything to for who knows how long. She would walk the bags a few yards up the road. Drop them and go back for Sarah. Pull her slowly, as to not screw up any of the bindings, a few yards past the bags. Go grab the bags and bring them past her again. No once did Sarah make any sort of movement or sound other than faint and shallow breathing.

      Dina had taken the holster wrapping it around her own leg. She almost wasn’t able to get it small enough to stay put without constantly sliding to her foot. What a surprise it hadn’t been made with literal children in mind. When she had to stop and rest she would often find herself running a finger up and down the handle. She didn’t want to look at the thing. The initials carved into the side were enough to make her sick.

      Two days now. Two days in complete silence. The nearest building she could get into was a small post office. All things considered, it was in pretty good condition. Probably because there was nothing useful in it, to begin with. Dina didn’t know what to do. She had enough food and water for a couple of days and it wouldn’t be too hard to set up a few snares nearby. The shadows on the floor moved slowly as she sat waiting for the day to pass.

      Three days. Sarah was starting to burn up. Dina could feel the heat coming from her skin and knew it wasn’t a good sign. Fevers meant infections. Dina had nothing to help and Sarah was only getting weaker. It didn’t help that she couldn’t eat, for everyday, she waited the chances grew slimmer Sarah would get back up. Dina distracted herself checking each of the little boxes opening any letters that weren’t completely waterlogged. One had bright yellow paper on the outside. The strings of numbers meant nothing other than names, Oregon and Wyoming.

      The inside had a thick card and when she opened it a green ten dollar bill fell to the ground. The handwriting inside was beautiful all the letters flowing into another. Dina couldn’t read most of it but it was fascinating none the less. She hung on to that one. The glossy outside had a picture of a dog with comically large eyes. Maybe Sarah would know how to read it. Lots of the cubby’s had the same letters, which was weird. There were a few magazines and ads she brought back to look through while she waited. She spent hours tracing over the different products with no clue what they did. Some of the articles were interesting, recipes with foods she had never heard of, technology that she would probably never see.

      There was one add with a handsome guy in a suit, the thing looked highly uncomfortable but overall? That was something that still stood up. Compared to the worn clothes she was used too it was stunning. Wouldn’t that be cool? To go to a party filled with all sorts of men and women in suits and glittering dresses. Wearing fancy golden watches drinking from tiny glasses and however, the next page fit in. Paper towels. Why would you want a towel to be made out of paper? Wouldn’t it just melt?

      There was a moan and Dina shot across the room. Sarah’s head was rocking back and forth as she tried to wake up. “Fuck” She groaned.

      Dina knelt hands set on both sides of Sarah’s face trying to keep her grounded in consciousness. “Hi.” She smiled tears already forming.

      Four days and she was finally able to get Sarah to eat something. The fever was still a problem but Dina had to hope for the best. Sarah was still barely functioning and struggled to hold a bottle up by herself. They had been able to talk for a couple of minutes early in the morning. Sarah’s hand shakily feeling the wrapping around her leg asking. “You did this?” Still unsure if she was even alive. Other than that everything else was mostly incoherent. She’d try to get her to eat and drink in the few moments of consciousness but that was borderline impossible. Nothing was going to improve without a miracle. 

      Hours later Dina bolted up heart pounding, she had dozed off but best guess was that it was midafternoon. She could hear voices, multiple voices outside and close. Sarah woke to and was blinking heavily beside her. Dina crouched walking forward to peek up over the counter. She couldn’t see anyone still. “Dina. Don’t go out there.” Sarah called out weakly behind her before coughing. “It’s not safe.”

      “Shhh.” She held a hand up before moving and stepping out the door.

 _"Where are they?”_ She thought trying to pinpoint the sound. There was a short burst of laughter. She crawled forward keeping her back against the brick wall. Just around the corner and she felt she would be able to see them.

      “Woah.” A voice behind her gasped. Dina spun clasping the gun with shaking hands as she pointed it up at a tall guy with wild hair. “Sorry didn’t mean to scare you. Are you really alone out here?” Dina didn’t reply she sat frozen with terror. “Hey now.” They guy sat on the ground with both his hands in the air. “I promise I don’t want to start any problems.”

      There was a loud whinny and Dina’s head snapped to the side. “What the hell was that?”

      “The horse?” The guy asked.

      Dina’s brain rattled. Horses? Like actual live horses? If they have those they have an actual real supply of food. “Are you serious?”

      “Yeah. Just back there.” He pointed. Dina walked back keeping her gun trained in his direction. She stuck her head out and saw three horses standing in the street. A young guy and women sat chatting next to them.

      Horses, a women and a guy who immediately sat down instead of trying to kill her. The decision almost made itself. Dina dropped the gun. “Can you help me?” She asked earnestly. He nodded easily. “My sister needs help now. Do you have medicine, antibiotics or anti-inflammatory?”

      “I don’t know if we have anything with us now but back home,” Dina launched forward grabbing a hand to pull him up.

      “Come with me.” She said running back to where Sarah was. He followed equal parts confused and intrigued.

      “Dina. What did you do?” Sarah asked watching as she came in with a stranger following close behind. “No. No,” she shook her head.

      “It’s okay,” Dina said coming next to her. “They have horses. I saw them. He said they can help.”

      Sarah just stared up feeling completely hopeless. “What did you do?”

      “I trust them.”

      “I guess I’m them.” The guy stared down trying to assess the situation. “You could just call me Notch.” He greeted before running back ran back and Dina pulled together the few supplies they had. He came back quickly introducing the other two. “Let’s see. This is Charlie and Maria.” They nodded in turn. And now she could see that Charlie was much younger than she had originally guessed.

      “Goddamn you girls are lucky,” Maria said kneeling next to Sarah. “If we hurry we can make it back before sundown. I hope you don’t mind being carried miss.”

      “I don’t know if I get to make that choice.” Sarah glared back to Dina.

      Maria let out a short chuckle. “I promise you won’t regret it. Charlie help me get her up.”

      “Yeah.” He nodded breaking from a trance, had he been staring? “Uhh, hi.” He awkwardly greeted as he got an arm behind Sarah’s back. They both lifted up and Sarah cried out in pain as she balanced on one leg for a few seconds. He quickly bent down picking her up with near practiced grace, “So, what’s your name again?” He asked walking out.

      “Don’t you fucking drop me,” Sarah growled weakly.

      “Don’t be a dick,” Dina called out trying to wrangle both of the bags. She turned with surprise as Maria grabbed the bigger one tossing it over her own shoulder. “Oh, thanks.” She nodded running up keeping a close tail on Sarah.

********

      “Is this it?” Sarah said staring down another empty shelf. “You live in a hot spot of natural painkillers and the only thing in stock is twelve ibuprofen that expired in 2010?” She pushed forward despite only being on crutches for a few hours. “How the hell have I made it this far under your care.”

      Tommy leaned against the front door frame more amused than anything. “Well the first year here we were much more concerned about getting enough food. I’ve never claimed to be a doctor, but I’ve managed so far.”

      Sarah’s eyes rolled to the side but she kept the first thought to herself. “How many people are living here?”

      “About forty.”

      She shouted down the hall for Dina who had immediately taken off to explore the small building. A round of steps could be heard on the floor above. “How many could I steal? Dina can start showing a couple what to pick and in two months we can have a pretty stable supply. I also need to get a stash of basics like bandages, splints, knives,” she slid open a drawer by the dirty sink. “Good lord, some soap would be great.” She trailed back to the original thought. “Once those basics are set they last a good while. If we can start there I can start working on the rest.”

      Dina slid into the room shirt covered in a fine sheet of dust and a huge patch of spider-web in her hair. “What’s up?” She popped.

      “How long would it take for you to clean up this kitchen top to bottom? I’m pretty sure it’s our starting point”

      Dina hummed surveying the area. “Three days for Abba standards.” She didn’t even seem to notice as Sarah tried to pick the webbing off her head.

      “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.” Tommy chuckled. “I’ll see who I can get to help but I wasn’t planning on you to focus in on a clinic. Now that you’re up I just wanted to make sure you knew your way around the town.” Dina immediately perked up wanting nothing more than to get a closer look at their current home. Since coming in the gates she had seen a few other kids and dozens of buildings. As much as that curiosity tugged at her heart she had stuck firmly to Sarah’s side for the past few weeks. She knew Tommy’s house and that was it.

      He led them down the street and there was an obvious line between the houses they had fixed up and the ones that were still untouched. They did pass one that was currently under construction stopping to chat with the crew for a moment. He pulled up to a small two-story house that was on the far end of things and opened the door. Where they were expecting people they found an empty and sparsely furnished living room. “We cleaned this one up a couple of months ago so it should still be alright. You're probably getting tired of my couch so, I hope you don’t mind moving to here.”

      Sarah’s jaw dropped to the floor. “You're just giving us a house? We can stay in the other one. There’s no need to,”

      He chuckled sinking his hands into his pockets. “The one thing we’ve got is space. I’m not going to make you live in that tiny little thing out there, it’s going to be a few months before we’ve finished building it back up. Hell, if you really wanted you each could have your own spot.” He moved over to the switch on the wall flicking it up with a flair. “This one’s all wired and watered up. Charlie lives a few doors down but has already offered to help you with anything you need.

      Sarah moved in looking around in awe. How long had the four of them been confined to that one little room? And now an entire house was being given to just her and Dina without any expectation of repayment. Her jaw quivered up and down still trying to find the right words. “T-thank you.” She breathed not wanting to knock over the illusion.

      “It’s the least I can do.” He nodded backing out of the home. “I’m pretty sure Maria and a few of the other gals already brought you things over, and more. Take a couple days to get settled in. We'll only talk about working once you’re ready.”

      “Okay.” Sarah nodded still entranced by the room her vision starting to blur on the edges. The door closed behind her she stepped forward but started to tilt precariously to the side. Dina instinctively held an arm out keeping her up. “How did you find these people?” Her voice shook as Dina helped her down to the couch.

      “I kinda think they found us first.” Dina grinned. “Or it’s because I threatened to shoot Notch.”

      “I don’t know how he could have been threatened by a toddler with a gun.” Sarah teased with a shaking voice. Dina complained that she wasn’t that short but Sarah ignored it pulling her into a tight hug. “We’re done running.”

********

      Months seemed to pass easily now. There was a small clinic up and running and Sarah rushed through each day still leaning heavily on one crutch. Soon after gathering the supplies and being able to start making their own medicines volunteers started to pop up wanting to learn more. Most picked up the basics and went back to their regular work. Tanner was the first who was serious, short with fiery red hair and two young daughters. He didn’t want to risk being on the patrols and immediately took to the training. Maggie was older but still had a spring in her step. Her thick curly hair had a mind of its own, much like the owner.

      Every few weeks more people would come into the town. Sarah and Dina tried their best to get to know the needs of every one of them. By the time snow started falling again, the population had nearly doubled. There had been three babies, Dina passed out while watching that first delivery. She spent the next few weeks wondering why anybody would ever want to have kids.

      Eventually, Sarah could walk without support but the pain was still there. She knew it would always be there. Some days it was worse than others but she refused to say anything about it. She didn’t want Dina to feel guilty about something they couldn’t change. Without her she wouldn’t have made it this far. On slow nights she would wander out to the watchtowers on the edge of town, Charlie often chose those late shifts. It always seemed like an odd age being born so close to the initial break out. She had always been stuck in the middle of people much older or younger than her. While he tended to be shy and quiet at night they’d talk freely staring out into the trees or just waiting for the sun to come back up.

      It was one of those nights when a group approached the wall just as the sun was approaching the horizon. A good half dozen pulling a cart behind.

      Charlie stood rifle pointing down as he called for them to stop. One man looked up squinting into the bright searchlights. He was helping to support someone as they hobbled along. His scraggly blonde hair was tied into a short tail and unkempt beard flecked with an array of colors. “Holy shit,” Sarah whispered squinting down trying to make out if her eyes were telling the truth.

      “We just need help. We’re only asking for a few days. Please, none of us are infected.” The voice was immediately recognizable and Sarah stood pushing Charlie’s rifle down and flew down the ladder.

      “Will! Thank god you’re okay.” He blinked confused that they already knew his name. Sarah threw open the gate immediately recognizing Henry under the other arm of the person they were carrying along. She rushed forward wrapping around him.

      It still took a few seconds for him to register what was happening. “Dina?”

      Henry groaned on the other side. “You idiot. That’s the little one.” Sarah let go and moved to hugging Henry, she could feel the tears forming in her eyes. “It’s good to see you Sarah. I’ve always felt guilty about letting you two go off by yourselves.” He pat her back and she stepped back looking through the other faces. Charlie has walked up behind her still keeping a cautious hold on his rifle. Sarah waved at him again to calm down.

      “Kari’s back there,” Will said softly pointing to cart. Sarah could barely make out two forms lying under a tightly packed mess of blankets and bags.

      “And Moe?” She felt she already knew the answer. Will stared down slowly shaking his head. She frowned with a slow breath but you can't expect much from this world. “It’s okay. You guys are all safe here.” She worked back to the wagon already making a mental note of all the injury’s she could see. In the wagon one of the people was still sleeping. The other she reached out softly setting a hand on her shoulder. “Hey.”

      Kari turned slowly. Eyes dark and obviously fighting off something. “Sarah.” She coughed.

      “Yeah.” She grinned. “Don’t you look like shit?” Kari brightened up reaching an arm out and pulling Sarah into a weak hug.

      “You’re okay.” She said.

      Sarah nodded before stretching back up. “Let’s get all of you cleaned up and fed. Dina’s going to freak out when she sees you.

—X—

      In the first few weeks Dina struggled to fit in right. There weren’t a ton of kids and she had grown used to only being around people twice her age. She spent a lot of time crossing the town and talking with all the adults. Notch worked with the horses and she loved spending days out in the barn. Between helping Notch and chasing the cats she'd come home muddy and grinning. When she finally got around to meeting some of the kids a group of boys immediately started teasing and picking on her. There wasn’t much she could do about being shorter than all of them, but when Jesse made a remark about her nose, she broke his. He stumbled back crying and suddenly everyone else was more than willing to accept her. When the bruises faded Jesse started to talk to her again but made sure to stay an arm's length away.

      She helped when she could in the clinic. Sarah was finally able to start training her on everything her father hadn’t gotten too. Sometimes she would even be in charge of a group much older than her and they would go gather plants to be made into different medicines and remedies. She was able to work her way onto the good side of every person. When patrols went out she could often convince them to bring back something for her. Soon her room was filled with books and colorful posters.

      Winter showed up forcing into perspective just how long they had been there. Just as the town grew so did the parties. Dances would be held in the big open building everyone called the church, although there was rarely any sort of regular sermons. People would dance casting long shadows on the wall, the music was much better then what Jacob would try to recreate by himself those nights when they would dance around the fire. Despite the bitterly cold air people kept warm with ridiculous games and events.

      The snow started melting and one day Sarah called her down to the clinic. She opened the door with a grin leading Dina back to one of the rooms. Will and Henry sat waiting both sporting enormous beards. Dina laughed at how awful they looked and they immediately accepted when she offered a good razor. She stood on top of a stool to help trim down their wild manes. Kari took a few weeks to recover and continued helping Dina learn to play the piano left in the church.

      Weeks sped by. Charlie kept showing up at their house and Dina wasn’t always sure why. Months later she caught him and Sarah making-out in the clinic's attic. She panicked slamming the door and ran home accidentally locking them inside. He had to climb out of the window and come back to free Sarah. The next week Charlie’s jeans disappeared off the line and she sewed the bottom of one leg shut.

      Winter passed, and then another. Tommy seemed to be on edge the entire time. Something about a long lost brother appearing for a brief time and leaving. He should have made it back by now. As spring came into view another group wandered in and they had officially passed two hundred people. (Granted some in that count didn’t live there year round.) Tommy’s brother came back, he seemed cold and hard in comparison. But beneath that tough exterior, she could occasionally see a small smile or glow in his eye. He had come with a girl around her age.

      It took a while before they finally met which was odd considering she was usually able to track down everyone within a few days. “Oh, ouchie,” she said leaning in looking at the girl. Her hands were torn up blood streaking down. Ellie was hard to read, oddly defensive and not used to being around people. It was definitely an adjustment going from traveling months with one other person and being thrown into such a big town. Despite all the walls, she could tell Ellie had built up over multiple years, there was something really intriguing. It took weeks to begin pulling it apart.  It was like her entire soul was covered in a thick war paint. Dina was immediately drawn to her. Maybe it was just because she was finally taller then someone, or perhaps it was something else, a more impish side that was buried in there. She could already tell they had a lot more in common than most would see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things that make me laugh: The fact that the 900 word one-shot I did had more subscribers than this story. I see you. 
> 
> I just thought it would be neat to have some extra things to add to the universe that would make things in my other stories stand out more. Twas fun to write what I consider the non-playable side of a story. (For general reference this covered roughly five years so Dina ends at 15 and Sarahs 22.) Anywho thanks to the OG's that read this. I can't thank you enough for sticking around to look at literal practice. Anyone want to go out for pizza? I dunno Skype?


End file.
